A Man Who Allegedly Raped a 12-Year-Old Girl Was Just Granted Parental Rights to Her Child

Christopher Mirasolo's mugshot, courtesy Michigan Department of Corrections.

The Detroit News reports that a convicted sex offender, Christopher Mirasolo, has been granted join custody of the child born to a woman who says he raped her nine years ago. Even more disturbing is the fact that his alleged victim was just a 12-year-old girl when the reported rape occurred. Sanilac County Judge Gregory S. Ross handed down the decision after a DNA test confirmed Mirasolo's paternity of the child, who is now 8-years-old.

The mother and child's names have not been released due to privacy concerns. An attorney for the mother, Rebecca Kiessling, has filed an objection to the ruling, which she told paper is "insane." Kiessling further claims in a press release that the judge revealed the woman's home address to Mirasolo and also ordered that his name be added to the child's birth certificate. She is now fighting the decision under the Rape Survivor Child Custody Act, which allows a woman to petition to prevent her rapist from gaining any parental rights to a child conceived in the assault. President Obama signed the bill, which was supported by antisexual violence advocates and organizations like RAINN, into law in 2015.

Kiessling says Mirasolo raped and threatened to kill her client in 2008, when he was 18-years-old and she was just 12. He was sentenced to a year in county jail under a deal in which he plead guilty to a lesser charge of attempted third-degree criminal sexual misconduct, she says. Mirasolo served a little more than six months before he was released. Two years later, he was convicted of sexually assaulting another victim between the ages of 13 and 15 years old. According to the Michigan Department of Corrections website, Mirasolo remains on probation.

An attorney for Mirasolo told The Detroit News her client did not initiate the proceeding, and that it's standard procedure when someone applies for state assistance for parental rights to be reviewed. Kiessling confirms that the court's actions seem to have been prompted following a survey of her client regarding child support she received in the last year. "I don't know what his plans or intentions might be regarding any future relationship with the child," Mirasolo's lawyer said.

The mother of the child told The Detroit News the situation is "crazy," adding: "I was receiving about $260 a month in food stamps for me and my son and health insurance for him. I guess they were trying to see how to get some of the money back."

A petition to remove Judge Ross from the bench is circulating online. A hearing in the case is scheduled for Oct. 25.